Anecdotal Etiquette
Submitted by
Gonnosuke on Sat, 05/03/2008 at 12:41am.
I stumbled across an interesting article from the Rocky Mountain News that contained the following anecdote:
"Victor Traibush of Boulder, the Colorado Chess State Champion in 1955, 1967, and 1970, spent time with Fischer during his match against Larsen. Traibush remembers Fischer as "a man who took his responsibilities as a professional very seriously."
As the official scorekeeper for the first two games of the Fischer-Larsen match, Traibush observed that whenever Fischer moved, he very carefully and politely slid the piece to the center of the square he was moving it to. (It is considered poor sportsmanship when a player slams a piece or screws it into the board.)
In the diagrammed position with today's column, when Fischer played the aggressive and decisive 19.f5!, Traibush observed that Fischer actually picked up the pawn and tilted it slightly toward Larsen as he moved it forward.
On the drive from Denver to Traibush's house in Boulder for dinner, Traibush asked Fischer if he was aware of how he moved the pawn. Traibush says Fischer didn't realize that he had done it and was mortified.
Noticeably disturbed by his action, Fischer said, 'That was very unprofessional.'"
What struck me about the article and the anecdote in particular is that it's a side of Fischer we don't often hear much about. Because of that, I couldn't help but be saddened a little bit when I read it....